Forever
by ajfankeith
Summary: Sequel to Destiny. Aaron and Robert are enjoying married life, until a face from the past appears.
1. Chapter 1

Forever - Chapter 1

 _-O-_

 _DISCLAIMER: I am not connected to Emmerdale and its characters, which belong to ITV_

 _-O-_

There was a nip in the air that December morning. Aaron wrapped his hoodie jacket around himself as he sauntered along the main street in the village, heading for the scrap yard. Robert was still in bed at their home in Woodbine Cottage. He smiled to himself as he thought about his husband. Aaron had left him sleeping soundly: so soundly in fact that Robert had not roused when Aaron had stuck a post-it note to his bare chest.

As he clumped up the metal steps to the cabin, he fished the key out of his pocket so that he could unlock the door. He knew that Adam would not be in as his best mate had arranged to drive into Leeds for a meeting with a scrap contact, leaving his pregnant wife Victoria at home.

Aaron filled the kettle with water as soon as he arrived. The cold morning air had chilled his marrow and he fancied a hot cup of tea straight away to warm himself up. As he sat drinking his beverage, he looked down at his left hand and smiled as he studied the gold band on his third finger. He sometimes found it difficult to believe that he was married. When he had first realised that he was gay, marriage had been the last thing on his mind, but he had come to accept both his sexuality and the fact that he had fallen deeply in love with a bisexual man. He almost chuckled at the memory of his mother telling him that he never made life easy for himself. She had hated Robert at first, but had come to love and respect him after he had proved his devotion to her son. Robert Jacob Sugden had made Aaron blissfully happy and that was good enough for her.

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Robert stirred, stretched and reached out his hand, expecting to feel Aaron's firm, muscular body against his fingertips. But his husband was not there and he suddenly realised that he had something stuck to his chest. He pulled the note away from his skin and held it in front of his face, still blurry-eyed from sleep and as he focussed on the top line of Aaron's note a grin crept across his handsome face.

"Good morning, you lazy bugger!"

Robert knew that the greeting was the closest that he would ever get to a romantic message from his ever-loving, but he did not mind one bit. In fact, he would probably have been disappointed with any other comment. This was the Aaron that he knew and loved with all his heart.

The note continued, "Don't make any arrangements for tonight. I've booked a table at a restaurant in Hotten."

Robert retrieved his mobile phone from the bedside cabinet and he texted his husband straight away, "Good morning monkey, what's the occasion?" Robert often used 'monkey' as a term of endearment, as it harked back to the time when he and Aaron first met and he had called him a "dirty little grease monkey".

A text reply quickly appeared, "I knew you'd forget our anniversary."

Robert scratched his head. It was not their wedding anniversary, so he was a little lost.

"Fourth of December," he mused, "What's that an anniversary of?"

He knew better than to ask Aaron the question as he was obviously supposed to know the answer, so he just texted back, "I haven't forgotten. Love you xx." He would have to try to remember before the evening. He smiled as a little reply came back, "Love you too xx."

Robert often had these little unexpected displays of affection from Aaron. He knew that his husband was not good with words of love, but that was all to do with Aaron's personality. It was part and parcel of the very special man that he had fallen in love with and he would not have it any other way.

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts, "Robert, are you awake?"

"Yes, come in!"

As the door opened and Liv appeared, "Aaron was going to take me into town later but he's got an appointment and he can't give me a lift now. I don't suppose you can take me?"

Robert smiled, "There are some vehicles that go into town quite regularly: I think they call them buses."

Liv curled her lip: she was used to Robert's sarcasm. Her expression reminded Robert so much of her older brother, "I should have known better than to ask you... skinflint!"

Robert laughed, "You never will get it when I'm winding you up, will you? Of course I'll take you."

"Don't put yourself out on my account," Liv replied in a hurt tone.

"I said I'd take you, providing I've got enough petrol in the car."

Liv really wanted the lift, so she knew that being cheeky to Robert was not going to help matters, "Okay, ta! For a minute there, I thought you were going to pretend that your car was out of action."

Liv left Robert to climb out of bed, which he did once he was alone. Then, it suddenly dawned on him, this was indeed an anniversary. Three years previously, he and Aaron had shared their first kiss on the roadside, when Robert had pretended that his car had broken down. Liv had unwittingly reminded him about the anniversary: although it amazed him that Aaron had remembered and wanted to mark the occasion. But then, that was his Aaron: full of surprises!

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Robert met Aaron outside their evening venue. Aaron had gone into town on an errand and asked Robert to meet him there. As they took their seats at a table, Robert looked around the restaurant that Aaron had booked. His husband had done well: it was plush and a glance at the menu confirmed that this was a high-class establishment.

"You haven't got a clue have you?" Aaron teased.

"About what?" Robert knew that Aaron was referring to the occasion, but played dumb.

"This anniversary."

"It was three years ago today that I pretended that my car had broken down. I'm surprised that _you_ remembered though," Robert gave Aaron a little, self-satisfied smirk that his husband knew so well by now.

"I always remember," Aaron smiled back, "you were so horny and up for it! But then you shied away and started pissing me off!"

Robert chuckled, "Yeah, I was really stuck to the back of that closet then, wasn't I?"

Aaron didn't reply. He knew how hard it had been for Robert to admit his bisexuality: it was so easy for him to understand, given his own initial reticence to admit that he was gay. They knew one and other inside out.

Robert looked at Aaron's beautiful face. He was captured by his husband's trusting blue eyes and knew that he could never lie to him about anything, ever again, "Aaron. I have a confession to make."

"What?"

Robert looked a little sheepish, "If I'm honest, I didn't remember about today. Something Liv said reminded me."

Aaron reached across the table and took Robert's hand in his own, "Robert, I'm not bothered that you'd forgotten the date. It's much more important to me that you are honest with me. It proves to me that you've changed, that you've become the man I always knew you could be. I know I don't say this enough, but I love you so much. You've fought your demons and won...that's something I can totally relate to."

Robert squeezed Aaron's hand in his own, "You've changed too. You don't cut yourself anymore and you seem happier now than I can ever remember. I love you too."

Aaron licked his lips, "I so want to kiss you right now, but I can't do it in a restaurant full of people. But you're going to get a very special night tonight, lover!"

They were interrupted by the waiter, who seemed to recognise Robert as he approached the table, "Are you ready to order, gentlemen?"

Robert was taken aback. The waiter was Connor Jensen, a one-time rent boy that he had known when he was still in denial about his sexuality and looking for same-sex liaisons. However, Connor did not let on that he knew Robert. He remained totally professional and took their order.

It was later in the evening, when Robert excused himself from his husband's company and went to the washroom, that Connor finally made his move. He followed Robert and caught up with him by the row of washbasins in the men's room, "Hello Robert, long time no see."

"You've come up in the world, Connor," Robert tried not to sound condescending, but he felt that his remark was a bit of a put-down.

"Well, it beats walking the streets, looking to get picked up by bisexual men, locked away in their sad little closets."

Robert looked at the expression on Connor's face, "Is that remark aimed at me?"

Connor smirked, "If the cap fits! You've picked up a pretty one tonight."

"Do you mind?" Robert was insulted by Connor's remark, "That happens to be my husband," he held up his hand to display the ring on his wedding finger.

"Husband?" Connor let out a chuckle, "I bet that won't last, you don't have a very good track record with marriages, do you?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but we're in love and this is for keeps."

Connor moved close to Robert, standing right in front of him and staring him directly in the face, he ran his hands up Robert's arms, "I bet if I pushed you into that cubicle you wouldn't be able to say no!"

Just as Connor attempted to kiss Robert, the door swung open and Aaron entered. He had come to check on Robert as he had been missing for a while. Connor immediately jumped back but not before Aaron had caught a glance of Connor clutching his husband.

"What the..." Aaron could not believe it, but was prevented from continuing as Robert butted in.

"Aaron! This isn't what it looks like!"

"I thought that you getting your kicks this way was all in the past," Aaron had a face like thunder: he turned to leave the washroom.

"Aaron...wait!" Robert shouted after him and, when Aaron didn't turn around, he ran to catch him up, giving Connor a withering stare as he left. If looks could kill, Connor would have keeled over on the spot.

Aaron and Robert drove home in silence. Robert had protested his innocence but Aaron refused to listen, so Robert gave up trying to reason with him and thought it best to let him calm down.

After they arrived home, Aaron wouldn't let Robert anywhere near the bedroom. He was hurt and upset and retreated into his shell. Robert resigned himself to sleeping on the couch that night. A perfect evening had suddenly turned on a sixpence and had become a nightmare. Robert wept into his pillow. He loved Aaron with all his heart, he had never loved anyone so deeply before.

In spite of everything, Robert slept. He was tired and emotionally drained, so he drifted off to sleep without too much trouble.

Aaron was less fortunate: he tossed and turned for most of the night. He trusted Robert, more than he had ever trusted anyone in his entire life, but his insecurities were never far from the surface. He fitfully wriggled around in the lonely bed: he had become so used to having Robert in the bed with him that it felt wrong to be alone. Just when he would think that he was all cried out, he would suddenly realise that tears were rolling down his cheeks again. Aaron felt things deeply and his feelings for Robert ran more deeply than he had ever experienced before. The possibility of Robert's betrayal cut him like a knife. The thought even ran through his mind about finding the nearest sharp object and turning it on himself, but he resisted. Since he had married Robert, he had vowed not to self-harm anymore and, even in the midst of his current despair, he could not do that again.

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The next morning, Robert had a phone call from Adam at six-thirty.

"Hi Mate, what's up?" Robert knew that something must have happened as Adam was not in the habit of calling him so early in the morning.

"Robert, I'm calling from the hospital. It's Vic, she's gone into labour."

Robert was a bit taken aback. In his groggy state, he was not firing on all cylinders, "Oh...right! Give me a minute to throw some clothes on and I'll be there!"

"What about Aaron?"

Robert climbed the stairs and glanced towards the closed bedroom door, "Oh, yeah! Aaron too...of course."

Robert knew that he would have to ask Aaron to accompany him to the hospital, but, given his current mood, he was afraid to open the door. He did not know how his husband was going to react and he approached the door with trepidation.


	2. Chapter 2

Forever - Chapter 2

 _-O-_

 _DISCLAIMER: I am not connected to Emmerdale and its characters, which belong to ITV_

 _-O-_

"Aaron? Adam's just called: Vic's at the hospital, she's in labour. Can I come in?" Robert tapped on the door. It felt strange to be knocking at the door of his own bedroom, but he knew that Aaron would still be upset with him.

The door opened and Aaron ushered him inside. Robert could see that he was fully dressed, "You're up and about early."

"Fred's coming to the yard this morning in his truck to collect that metal piping. I've got to be there early to meet him: you know he always gets there at the crack of dawn."

Robert thought it was strange that Aaron did not mention their argument from the night before, but he just put it down to Aaron wanting to carry on as normal. He knew that it was his husband's coping mechanism, "Aren't you coming with me to the hospital?"

"You go. I'll follow on later after Fred's been."

Robert was about to suggest that he could cancel Fred's visit, but he decided to let Aaron deal with things in his own way.

Robert drove to the hospital alone. He missed having Aaron by his side, but wanted to be there for his sister and brother-in-law. He found Adam in a waiting room, "Why aren't you with Vic?" he asked.

"I've just come out for a coffee," Adam almost felt guilty about leaving his wife, "She's having contractions but they're not sure if she's actually due to give birth, so they're checking her out. I'm going back in after my cup of coffee. Where's Aaron?"

"He's at the scrapyard. He said Fred's due to come over in his truck."

"Oh yeah, that's right," Adam looked at Robert, "So, why the long face?"

"Am I that transparent?"

"You and Aaron have had a tiff, haven't you?" Adam looked concerned about his friends, "What's it about this time?"

"You make it sound like we're always falling out. We haven't had a quarrel since we got hitched."

Adam would not let it lie, "So it must be serious then?"

Robert was about to unburden himself to Adam when a nurse suddenly appeared, "Mr Barton, your wife's contractions are coming quickly now, you'd better get back to her."

"Sorry, mate!" Adam moved towards the door, "Gotta go...but sort it out with my bro, will ya?"

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Fred was the same age as Aaron and married with two children. He had a very close-shaved head and blue eyes. He knew Aaron and Adam well and had also met Robert as he sometimes spent some of his time at the scrap yard.

"No Adam today?" Fred said cheerily as Aaron helped him load up the truck.

"He's at the hospital with Vic, she's about to give birth."

"Great! Aren't you going?"

"I will after I'm finished here."

Fred paused and looked Aaron in the eye, "Have you had a row with the other half?"

"What makes you say that?" Aaron asked.

"I know that look! I've had enough quarrels with Janine to know when a couple are having a fight."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Fair enough," Fred continued loading the truck, "but you need to sort it. Don't let it fester, you and Robert are one of the most solid couples I've ever seen...don't spoil it all over a little disagreement."

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With Fred's words still ringing in his ears, Aaron made his way to the hospital. He found Robert, sitting patiently in the waiting room, "How's Vic? She had the baby yet?"

"No," Robert looked tense, "Poor girl's still in the theatre: it's taking ages."

They sat in silence for a few moments, although to both of them it seemed like forever. Finally, Robert could no longer put up with the 'elephant in the room' and he spoke, "Aaron, you do know that I'm always totally honest with you since we got married, don't you?"

Aaron lifted his eyes from the floor to look at Robert, "Come on then, out with it: what's his name?"

"Who?" Robert said, but immediately regretted it when he saw at the disgruntled look on Aaron's face.

"Your boyfriend in the toilets," Aaron sneered, "it's obvious you've met before."

"Aaron, please listen to me, he's not my boyfriend. I'll tell you everything, I've got nothing to hide," Robert looked forlorn and Aaron knew that he was being sincere. He knew him well enough by now to know when he was telling the truth, "His name's Connor and he used to be a rent boy. I bribed him a while back as I was trying to set up a honey trap for Lawrence, but it didn't come off. Connor has always thought he could get with me, but I don't want him. I didn't know he was working in that restaurant. You had booked the table anyway and I had no way of knowing he'd be there. He obviously saw an opportunity when he saw me go into the men's room on my own, I showed him the ring on my finger and told him I was married to you, but he still made a pass at me. That's when you walked in."

"Were you tempted, though?" Aaron's insecurities would still not go away altogether.

"NO!" Robert emphasized his denial, "I told you before Aaron, no-one else comes close to you. I've committed to you for life and that's it as far as I'm concerned. You're the one. I've fought so hard to be with you and I'm never going to cheat on you."

"It's strange," Aaron looked at Robert steadily, but his facial expression had softened, "I was always afraid that you would cheat with a woman, not a man."

"But, I haven't cheated, Aaron, please believe me, I never would."

Aaron looked at Robert and could see how desperate he was to be believed. He realised that Robert had given him a truthful account of the evening's events, "I'm sorry, Robert. I should trust you more, shouldn't I?"

"You don't have to apologise, Aaron. You've always been let down by the people in your life, the very people who should have cared for you the most. I even let you down to start with, when I married Chrissie but I should have been marrying you instead. It's me that needs to beg forgiveness because I should have convinced you by now that you can put your trust in me. I'll never let you down, Aaron...never ever."

Adam suddenly burst into the room, interrupting their heart-to-heart, "It's a boy!" he shouted excitedly.

Both Robert and Aaron jumped up and embraced the new father and they shared a group hug. When they broke off, Adam opened the door to usher them through, "Come on guys, meet the proud mum and your new nephew!"

They entered a room where Victoria was sat up in bed with her newborn son. She was tired but she smiled when she saw her brother and brother-in-law, who kissed her in turn.

She looked at the baby, "Josh Barton, meet your Uncle Robert and Uncle Aaron."

"He's a handsome little chap, isn't he?" Robert gazed lovingly at his newest family member.

"Amazing: when you consider who his father is!" Aaron joked.

"Oi!" Adam playfully punched Aaron's arm.

"He's a lucky little boy," Victoria looked at Robert and Aaron, "he not only has a mum and dad who love him, but also two Godparents who will spoil him rotten!"

"We'll always be there for him," Robert looked at Aaron, "won't we, babe?"

Aaron looked affectionately back at Robert, "Yeah, 'course we will."

Aaron and Robert held hands and Adam looked on with a smile plastered all over his face. Not only had his wife just presented him with a beautiful boy, but his closest friends had obviously settled their differences and were united once more.

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Liv wanted to see the baby and was not going to take 'no' for an answer, so she convinced Aaron and Robert to give her a lift to the hospital, along with Chas. When they arrived, Victoria and Adam were having a busy time as Moira and Cain were also there, but they all had to take it in turns to file in to see mother and son as the nurses would not allow too many visitors at one time.

Chas offered to have Liv at the Woolpack for a sleepover as Aaron had told her that he needed some time alone with Robert. She knew that there had been some sort of altercation but did not pry and was happy to have Liv for a while as they had become quite close.

Aaron and Robert arrived back at Woodbine Cottage late in the evening and, for a moment, just stood in their living room. They had just been through a busy day and had not had the time to collect their thoughts, but now they could relax at last. Aaron looked at Robert, Robert looked at Aaron. Suddenly, they moved towards each other and fell into one and other's arms, kissing passionately. They knew, underneath it all, they loved each other deeply and a silly misunderstanding was never going to keep them apart for long.

Later, in their bed, they lay naked under the covers. Their make-up sex had been incendiary and they basked in the post-coital afterglow. Robert ran his hand along Aaron's muscular arm and stroked the hairs on his forearms.

"Aaron?"

"Yeah."

"You do know I love you more than life itself, don't you? I can't see my future without you in it: by my side. I want you to feel secure and know that I'll always be there for you. I'll never cheat on you and especially not with a skanky bastard like Connor."

Aaron propped himself up on one elbow, making his bicep bulge. Although Robert had only just climaxed, the sight of his husband's fit body made him want to jump his bones again, "Robert, I know you love me...I love you too. I'll try to say it more often as I want you to hear it: you deserve to hear how much I adore you."

Robert had never heard Aaron open up so candidly before and it touched him deeply. As Aaron lowered his head to kiss him, he put his hand at the back of Aaron's head and pressed his lips firmly against his husband's. They felt as if they had passed some kind of test and were stronger together than ever.

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The weeks passed and Christmas rolled around once more. On the morning of December 25th, Aaron stirred from his slumber first and he looked at Robert, still blissfully sleeping. He took a wrapped gift from the bedside cabinet. It had a piece of tinsel attached and he gently rubbed it against Robert's naked chest. Robert subconsciously brought his hand up to his chest and tried to brush away the irritating item. Aaron giggled and then did it again and Robert snorted and then roused, staring up into a wondrous pair of blue eyes. They were two eyes that were his favourite pair out of all the millions of eyes in the world.

"Merry Christmas, babe," Aaron was grinning all over his handsome face.

"Merry Christmas, gorgeous," Robert accepted Aaron's kiss and responded passionately. Their hunger for each other never diminished.

Robert took the wrapped present and tore at the paper, impatient to see inside. Aaron had bought him a new iPad. They kissed again.

Robert then took a gift from his bedside cabinet and gave it to his husband. Aaron could see that it was only an envelope, but he took the Christmas wrapping off, opened the envelope and found tickets inside, "What's this?" he asked.

"You know you said you wanted a day at Elvington? Well, these are tickets for a VIP driving experience. They've got loads of racing cars that you can drive on the day. I hope you like it."

"Like it?" Aaron's eyes lit up, "I love it! It's just what I wanted. Perfect...and so are you. Thanks, babe."

Aaron kissed his husband again. He was having one of his best Christmases ever and it had only just begun.

Aaron looked at his tickets and sighed. In that moment, he knew that he and Robert would share many more Christmases...forever.


End file.
